


I can't escape this now (unless you show me how)

by Ell_002



Series: please let me in (I believe in second chances) [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Fluff, Homeless Theo Raeken, Homelessness, M/M, Post-Canon, Sassy Peter Hale, Slow Burn, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Typical TW warnings apply, With the promise of future comfort?, actually pre-Thiam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23653843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ell_002/pseuds/Ell_002
Summary: Theo keeps on trying to convince everyone he's doing fine. Spoiler: he isn't. Good thing Derek is here to help
Relationships: Derek Hale & Theo Raeken, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Series: please let me in (I believe in second chances) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703047
Comments: 22
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The idea came from a spiral with lomitzz and SilverWolf over on the Thiam Discord server, thanks to them for the idea :D  
> Thanks also to Li0nh34rt for reading over the final version *.*  
> But mostly thanks lomitzz for booping this story into shape and helping me when I was stuck and making this what it is. Best Beta I ever had ;). Looking forward to us writing more in this universe :D
> 
> Also, I listened to way too much Imagine Dragons, so you have that to thank for the title xD (it's Demons ;))
> 
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find Liam's diagram on my tumblr, [here](https://theellana.tumblr.com/post/615401801602236416/enjoy-this-liam-made-diagram-explaining-season-5b)

It had been a few months since they’d defeated the Anuk-ite and ran Monroe out of town. She was still out somewhere, though. Scott, Malia and Argent were looking for her, while Derek had been left in charge of protecting Beacon Hills along with Peter and the puppies. Not that any of that should have concerned Theo, except that he was apparently considered a potential threat, and that Scott had told him to stay in Beacon Hills. So he had been living on what was left from the money stashed away during his last years with the Dread Doctors. Which meant sleeping in his truck, and prioritizing food over gas. A situation nobody in the McCall pack seemed bothered by. Even Liam, as much as he proclaimed to everyone who would listen that Theo was his responsibility, hadn’t done much more than offering him food when they’d found themselves at Liam’s house for dinner. He did give Theo his sweater this one time, but that was basically it, despite the fact that they saw each other every few days. Theo had been left to fend for himself. Which he was used to, so everything was going fine.

* * *

Things stayed this way until one day where Theo got “invited” to come to Derek’s apartment for a Very Important Debriefing. Liam’s words, not his. Apparently Derek was done cleaning up the mess left in Beacon Hills by the hunters and finally had the time to get the pack together. Which for some reason didn’t include Mason or Corey - Liam had complained about them being free to go on a date - but included him. Probably to make sure he wasn’t up to no good. So, to the loft he went, intending to just lean against a back wall and watch the Little Wolf explain whatever needed to be explained. A plan that was immediately foiled as Derek’s first question was directed to him.

“So, Theo, you’re a wolf, hm? When did you get bitten?”

Theo softly snorted. Someone had clearly been out of the loop… “I wasn’t bitten.”

“... you’re born then?” asked a confused Derek. “Strange, I never heard of a Raeken family.”

“Nope. Wasn’t born either.”

At that, Derek did a double take. Then looked at Peter, who looked about as confused. Then at Liam, who also looked confused but probably more about the fact that those questions needed to be asked. Did the McCall Pack never communicate? In any case, Derek looked and smelled like he didn’t even know what to ask and the only thing going through his head was “The fuck is this?”. Theo decided to put him out of his misery.

“I was made, same as Corey. Except the Dread Doctors took him last year. I was 9 when they got me. Manipulated me into killing my sister, watching her die of hypothermia. Made me into a genetical chimera by giving me her heart, then a supernatural one by experimenting on me. Raised me. Used me. Sent me back to Beacon Hills to infiltrate the McCall pack. That was a success, until I killed Scott.”

Derek’s immediate “WHAT?” almost drowned out Peter’s interested “How?”.

“Tricked Anger Wolf over there into fighting his Alpha on a Super Moon. He couldn’t finish the job, so I did. Scott’s better now, though.”

At this point, Derek had gotten his expression back under control. His scent though betrayed his suspicions. Good. Maybe then he’d leave Theo alone. Except they weren’t the only ones in the room. Liam, of course, had to intervene.

“Wait, no, Derek. You need to hear the full story. That was the beginning, when Theo was a major a-hole. But he redeemed himself! I mean, he’s still a jerk, but not an enemy anymore.”

“You know what? I’ll be the judge of that,” answered Derek. “I clearly missed a lot. You two, fill me in.”

Theo snorted. Had Derek never witnessed Liam telling a story? This was going to be fun.

* * *

"So, you see, after Theo brought the chimeras back to life… You know what? I'll draw you a diagram. It'll be simpler." 

Liam confidently headed back to his school bag, from which he fished out a handful of pens and a notebook he tore a page out of. Heading back to the table, he settled himself on one side, with Theo crowded on the other one. He didn’t even pay attention to whether Derek or Peter could see, and just started talking and drawing at the same time.

"So, there were the good guys. That was Scott, Malia, Lydia, me…”

“Kira”

“Thanks, Theo. Kira. Also, Mason. He wasn’t reaaally a part of the pack, but kinda. You’ll see. Oh, and Parrish. At first we didn’t know, but he’s a Hellhound. And then, there was the chimera pack. The bad guys. Led by Theo. Baddest of the bad-”

“Yeah, we’ve got it” interrupted Theo, who’d been staying unusually quiet since Liam started on this part of the story.

“And in his pack he had Corey, Hayden, Josh and Tracy. Well, until he killed Josh and Tracy for power.”

“He did _What_?” interrupted Derek.

“I never denied being an asshole, did I?” Of course Theo couldn’t resist digging himself a deeper hole. One Liam was not falling into, ha! He would even get Theo out of it.

“Theo, shut up. Derek… I’m getting to it. Anyway. Those were the enemies. Which of course didn’t stop Mason and Corey from fraternizing. Disgustingly in love, those two. No concern for the rest of the world.”

“Not like you and Hayden were any better” snorted Theo.

Of course the guy couldn’t shut up. Liam rolled his eyes and kept going, “Right. That. But it’s over now. And Theo’s my responsibility!”

“Not before I got sent to Hell then brought back, Little Wolf.”

“Right. Not yet. Soooo. Those were the two packs. But that’s not it. There were the very bad guys as well. The Dread Doctors! The Surgeon, the …”

Theo was looking at him, smirking and clearly not intent on helping. That was when he decided to shut up, of course.

“Chemist? And the Anesthetist! And like, we told you they were making chimeras, but there was a reason to it! Not sure exactly about the how and why but their goal was to resurrect the Beast of Gévaudan.”

“... How come you don’t remember the names of the Dread Doctors but you know how to perfectly write Gévaudan?”

“Hm? I looked it up afterwards.”

“Right, you and History…” teased Theo with a soft smirk.

Liam’s heart skipped a beat, for some reason. He didn’t let himself get distracted though, and kept going. “And so it turned out that Mason was the Beast in the end! But Lydia saved him, so it was fine. But not before he killed the Dread Doctors. Also, turns out the Beast’s nemeses are Hellhounds. So. That was helpful, what with Parrish being one. And I think that’s it?”

“... Deucalion.”

“What do you mean, Deucalion?” interrupted Derek, sounding slightly frantic.

“Riiiight… Deucalion. Who was working with the Dread Doctors… I think? Not sure… Remind me what happened there?” asked Liam to Theo, as he’d always been confused about that part.

“I thought I captured him and was pumping him for information. Turned out he was working with Scott. And tricked me into killing my pack.”

“... Tricked you into killing your pack. While working with Scott?” slowly asked Derek.

Liam looked at Theo, but the chimera was intently looking at Derek. Concentrating on the latter, Liam realized his heartbeat was speeding up slightly. And he smelled… something uncomfortable. Something Theo had analyzed better, cos he started smirking before even opening his mouth.

“Yeah. Why? Surprised by the True Alpha’s underhanded techniques? Or that the big bad chimera could get tricked?”

Derek took a deep breath, clearly composing himself. “Deucalion has been tricking alphas for years, you’re not the first. Though I wouldn’t have expected Scott to call him for help. What happened next?”

“Deucalion broke my neck. McCall pack sent me to hell.”

Liam shook himself from where his eyes had drifted to… Theo? “Hey, not fair to blame us all. Also, you were an asshole. But yeah, that’s pretty much it for the Dread Doctors. Look! Diagram!”

Theo laughed softly, “Diagram, right. Way to go Little Wolf, if this in any way represents the inner workings of your brain I’m scared. And impressed.”

Liam elected to be the bigger person and ignored him, turning back to his masterpiece which Derek and Peter were silently looking at.

“So, that’s it for the Dread Doctors. And then… Hm. I probably need a new piece of paper.”

Derek stopped him before he could get back to his bag though, “We’re good Liam, just tell us.”

* * *

At some point, while Liam was very talentedly telling the story of how they had brought Theo back and he was helping them to defeat the Ghost Riders and did he mention the Nazi Alpha Werelion who was also their Physics teacher, Peter decided to interrupt him. Which. Rude.

“This is getting ridiculous. Chimera, you were there, right? This’ll be much more efficient…”

At the word “chimera”, Liam turned towards Theo. A look of surprise flashed on his face before it switched to… resignation. As Liam opened this mouth to ask what was going on, he heard Peter swear then ask Derek to let him go. As surprise once again crossed Theo’s face, Liam realized that Peter had intended to use this claws to directly look at Theo’s memories. He rounded on him, intent on teaching him why, exactly, Theo wasn’t to be hurt, but Derek was already holding him back and talking to him.

“What are you doing, Peter?”

“Getting answers.” Peter grabbed Derek’s wrist, wrenching it away and freeing himself. He didn’t try to attack again though, now that he had lost the element of surprise. “This is taking way too long.”

“And you’d risk the kid’s life?”

“Don’t worry, dear nephew. I know what I’m doing.”

Liam couldn’t take it anymore. He intervened, angrily. “And we’re supposed to trust you?” He turned to Theo, “Sorry. I should have known he would pull a dirty trick.”

“Calm down, Liam.” said Derek. “Peter, we are not using the claws on anyone.”

Liam threw one last suspicious glare Peter’s way, then turned back to Theo. Theo, who looked like someone had just given him something unexpected but possibly nice. This was only for a second, before he went back to his usual arrogant smirk.

“Not like you’d get anything out of me anyway. Science experiment, remember?” Theo shrugged, then gestured at Liam. “And you wouldn’t dare touch Scott’s precious Beta. I guess you’re stuck listening to the whole tale." The corner of Theo's lips lifted in a smirk. "What a shame...”

Before Liam could get offended, Derek sighed, “Theo, don’t taunt him. And you two, get back to the story. As straightforwardly as possible, please.”

Liam grumbled under his breath about untrustworthy and creepy ex-Alphas for a few seconds, before Derek’s sharp “Liam…” shook him out of it and he got back to telling the story of the hospital fight against the Ghost Riders and the Nazi they captured and did he mention he stole a Ghost Rider’s horse?

* * *

“So, that’s it! We defeated Monroe, and now Scott and the others are running around hunting hunters, but you probably know more about it than I do.”

Finally, it was over. Less fun than Theo thought it would be. Especially the part where Peter wanted to put his claws in his neck… But now that everyone was caught up on what happened, he would be able to just go back to his truck and nap.

“I do have a few more questions.” Or not. Apparently Derek still wasn’t happy.

“Theo, I understood that you were with fake parents while working with the Dread Doctors… But that was months ago, and before you went to Hell. Where do you live now?”

So not only Derek wasn’t letting him leave, but he decided to get concerned about him? This meeting was just getting better and better… “I manage.”

“Yeah, that’s not what I asked, kid.” scoffed Derek.

Theo rolled his eyes. Looks like they were going to make him admit it. “I live in my truck.”

“What? You live _where_?” shrieked Liam.

So they were making him repeat it? Theo was starting to get annoyed by this whole discussion. “In my truck! It’s a type of car, Liam. I’m sure-”

“Why didn’t I know this?” asked Liam, apparently offended. “You’re my responsibility, why didn’t you tell me?”

Theo had had enough of this. “Because I couldn’t! What would you have done? Tell Scott?”

“I would have helped you!”

“You’re a kid! I know what position I’m in, okay? There is nothing you can do for me!”

“He’s right, Liam.” Of course Derek was agreeing that Theo had to live in his truck. Generous McCall pack, for sure… Theo internally scoffed. Less arguing, at least.

“See! Plus, I’ve been doing alright. I can take care of myself.”

Derek intervened again, “No, you clearly haven’t bee-”

“And it’s my fault!” cried Liam, before storming out of the loft, eyes flashing. It took Theo no more than a few seconds to register the smell of blood, probably from where Liam’s claws were digging in the soft flesh of his palms, before he ran out after him.

* * *

Theo caught up to Liam in the middle of the parking lot, before the angry wolf could get too far. When Liam didn’t react to him calling out his name and asking him to stop, he grabbed his arm to force him to, intent on calming him down, as usual.

“What’s your problem?”

“You are living in your truck, Theo!” said Liam, as if Theo needed to be reminded.

“ _Liam_ , it’s fine.”

Those were apparently the wrong words, as Liam just exploded. “No, it’s not fine! Scott left me in charge, and I can’t do anything right! Hunters still come and go, I can’t unite all local supernatural creatures and now it turns out that I’m too dumb to notice someone being homeless!”

“And where the fuck did you think I was living?” Theo was starting to get angry as well.

Liam started to open his mouth to answer but Theo cut him off, “In the house the Dread Doctors set up for me? With the fake parents they terrorized into working for them? Or maybe in my old house. The one I lived in with my sister, before being kidnapped when I was 9 years old? Yeah, clearly you didn’t think this through.”

Liam again tried to get a word in, but couldn’t. Being vulnerable made Theo angry, and being angry made him talkative. “You know what, though? It’s not even a question of you being too dumb to think about this. Your problem is that you claim I’m your responsibility but only act on it when you feel like it, usually because you got ditched by Mason. You’re either there 110%, or ignoring me for days. Of course you didn’t notice a thing.”

“See? You’re saying it as well! It’s all my fault!” Of fucking course this is what Liam would latch on.

“Stop. Bringing. Things. Back to you.” spat Theo. “Did you kidnap me from my parents when I was 9? No? Then it’s not your fucking fault. So get off your high horse. I’m not your charity case. You’re not even my friend.”

This left Liam speechless, for once. Theo took advantage of the quiet to just turn tail and walk back to his truck, leaving the beta standing there in the middle of the parking lot.

* * *

Derek’s first reaction was to go after them, but this time it was Peter who held him back.

“Just give them a minute. The fuzzball of fury needs to cool down.”

Derek sighed, then went to sit down on the couch. He didn’t like feeling helpless, but Peter was right, the boys needed to sort it out. Keeping an ear on them, he looked around his apartment. He hadn’t come back after the whole Kate fiasco in Mexico. Everything was still the same, the cleaning lady he had paid to come dust the place while he was away having done just that. His bed was still in the corner of the loft. The couple of cupboards and old stove top he called a kitchen hadn’t seen any use in a long time. The hole in the wall was still there, a reminder of past times. So were the stairs leading upstairs. He hadn’t been to what used to be Isaac and Cora’s old rooms since they left. His mismatched pack of teenagers… He had called himself an alpha, but he was nothing compared to what his mother used to be. Even his loft didn’t hold a candle to the Hale pack house, with it’s welcoming atmosphere and numerous rooms to welcome everyone. Like it did, the night of the fire… Derek shook himself out of those thoughts. The boys’ conversation was over, and though it hadn’t gone well, no blood had been shed and both were on their way home. Reassured, Derek focused back on Peter, who had been playing with his phone.

“So, what do you think?”

“About what? Need to be more precise, nephew. Lots of things were told in the past hours.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Theo.”

“Well, he’s definitely interesting. Managed to infiltrate the pack, got little Beta to attack Scott, finished the job… And then got himself back into the pack’s good graces?” wondered Peter. “I’m honestly curious as to how he did it.”

Derek looked at him warningly. “Peter, no.”

“I’m not saying I want to do the same! So little faith in me, Derek.” Peter shook his head. “I’m just curious! As another reformed villain who’s trying to get pardoned by Scott ‘True Alpha’ McCall.”

“Maybe stay reformed and don’t betray us this time? That should help.” snorted Derek, before pausing for a minute, thinking. “Do you think he will?”

“Betray the pack? No way. He doesn’t have the drive for it anymore. Also, have you seen the way he looks at the Beta? There won’t be any betrayal here… I’d be more worried about him fading away.”

Derek raised both brows questioningly.

“Well, you’ve heard him. Kid lives out of his truck. Liam might be calling him his responsibility, but he didn’t even know Theo’s homeless… Also, did you see Theo’s reaction when he realized I wanted to claw him? He didn’t even care.” 

“So, you’re saying…?”

“Yes, my dear, big-hearted nephew. I’m saying the kid is a lost cause, like you so love helping. And that he probably won’t stab you in the back.” 

Derek scoffed, “That’s reassuring.”

“Well, 90% sure he won’t betray you if you invite him into your apartment. Pretty good odds for someone who invites hunters and witches in his bed, wouldn’t you say?”

Derek felt a pang of remorse at being reminded of his past mistakes. That was a low blow, lower that he’d expected from his uncle. “Okay, that’s enough.” Derek scowled. Peter took his cue and headed for the door. Right before he got out of earshot, Derek, remembering the whole conversation, added a single word, “Thanks.”

If you’d asked him, he probably wouldn’t admit it. But he had missed this side of this uncle, able to understand him with just a few words. And his insight into people and situations was as good as it used to be. Peter was right. Theo was not taking care of himself, contrary to what he said. And Derek couldn’t just leave him like that, now that he knew. He took another look around the room, assessing what would need to be changed. Fix the hole, put up a door. Make that his bedroom. Maybe get a kitchen? And the hardest, clean up one of the upstairs rooms. Oh, and convince the kid to move in.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun rose the next day on Theo fitfully turning around in his truck. He never slept well, between the nightmares and deputies asking him to move his truck. Something new had disturbed his sleep that night though. Right as he had been trying to go to sleep, a realization had hit him: Liam hadn’t known he was living out of his truck. And while that meant he was the worst responsible person ever, it also meant that contrary to what Theo had been thinking for months, Liam hadn’t been just letting him be homeless, out of some twisted sense of cruelty. The idiot just didn’t realize. Which made much more sense knowing the young wolf. And forced Theo to reconsider a few things, which is rarely conducive to a good night’s sleep.

As the morning started, so did Theo’s day. He hadn’t eaten dinner the day before, not hungry after everything that happened. That was good though, skipped meals meant saved money. And breakfast could wait for a while, he was feeling more sluggish than anything anyway. He knew exercise would help though, and decided to set off for a run through the preserve, on the edge of which his truck was parked.

As he was starting to feel himself get back to normal, he smelled Derek and heard his footsteps approaching. Well, of course, after finally hearing the whole story, Derek was coming to tell him he wasn’t welcome and ask him to leave town. Something Theo couldn’t do. Scott had made him promise to stay there, where he could keep an eye on him. Of course the Alpha hadn’t bothered to help him find a place to live so as to stay in Beacon Hills comfortably, but what did Theo expect… Definitely not decent treatment. He was doing fine anyway, and not hurting anyone. He’d just have to convince Derek of that, especially since not respecting Scott’s orders probably meant Argent chasing after him to bring him back. Theo steeled himself for the oncoming argument, and turned to welcome Derek once he got close enough.

“Hi. What do you want?”

“To make you an offer.”

This was not what Theo was expecting. “What do you think you have to offer to me?”

“A roof over your head and a bed. I have room in my apartment. You can stay with me.”

Several things went through Theo at once. Surprise. Suspicion. Disgust. Anger. “I don’t need your charity. I’ve been doing well enough. See? I’m alive. More than I can say about the state I was in a few months ago, after an encounter with your precious Scott.”

Derek took off his sunglasses and looked Theo in the eye. “You know what? I’m not going to argue with you,Theo. You won’t believe me anyway. I’m just gonna tell you that this is not charity, this is me being a decent human being. Until you find somewhere better than your truck to sleep in. I don’t expect you to answer right now. Offer’s open. Think about it.”

Seeing Theo was definitely not answering right away, Derek just shrugged and turned back the way he came, jogging.

Theo watched him vanish into the forest, taking a minute to process, before getting back to his run. He didn’t need Derek’s charity. He could take care of himself. Had been doing a good job of it so far. Living in his truck wasn’t that bad anyway… At least, that’s what he had convinced himself of by the time he got back to this truck. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t feeling sluggish anymore. Time for a shower and breakfast.

He drove to Beacon Hills High School. As usual, he didn’t have any trouble slipping into the school during lunch hour. After all, he was just any regular teenager, backpack on his shoulder. Nobody would be able to tell the backpack contained soap and a change of clothes instead of notebooks, or that he was only here to take advantage of the locker room showers. Well, nobody except the local supernaturals, but so far he’d always been able to avoid them. Once, he had almost ran into Corey and Mason, but he was able to smell and hear them just in time. He’d kept away from the school for a while after that… But had to come back after Liam had commented one too many times on him not smelling like his usual soap. Things went well this time, and he was quickly clean and changed into fresh clothes. That was his daily shower, taken care of. Food was quickly dealt with by a trip to the local fast food joint for fries and a burger. An improvement on some of his latest meals he could afford since he didn’t eat the night before.

Once he was done dealing with the first necessities, Theo drove the truck back to the edge of the woods. He wanted to nap for a while but only ended up tossing and turning for a few hours, before his alarm clock freed him from pretending to sleep. In the past few months, Liam and him had gotten into the habit of patrolling the town after lacrosse practice. It had started off by Liam commandeering Theo’s truck (and Theo as a driver) for “Very Important Patrols”. Soon enough, it became clear from all the ranting that it was less about keeping the town safe and more about Mason spending lots of time with Corey, leaving Liam craving company. Not that Theo would call him out on that. He could let the Little Wolf indulge for now. Though after their fight the day before, Liam might not be expecting him to show up. But Theo wanted to keep things normal, especially following his late night’s revelation. So he switched to the driver seat and headed back towards Beacon Hills High School.

* * *

Theo arrived at the school a bit before practice let out, as usual. Corey was one of the first ones out, accompanied by Mason, obviously. They looked at him warily, which might have meant that Liam had filled them in. But they also still didn’t trust him, so it might have been just that. When Liam got out, he headed towards the bus stop, his way of getting home when neither Mason nor Theo were driving him. Though Theo only had to softly say his name to make him change direction, thanks to supernatural hearing. Which also meant he heard Liam talking to him even before reaching his truck. Smart move from the Little Wolf, Theo couldn’t throw him out if he wasn’t inside to start with.

“Thanks. And... sorry for not noticing about your situation. I’ve been thinking about it, and I have a perfect solution! You can move in with me!” explained Liam excitedly.

Theo chuckled, “Yeah? And how would that work? You’d tell your mom about taking in the reformed murderer? Or you’d sneak me in at night?”

Liam started to get annoyed at having his idea immediately shut down, “Well, I haven’t had time to think it through yet, obviously. But we can figure something out!”

“Don’t worry about it, Little Wolf. I’m good, okay?” At that point, Liam had reached the car and was starting to get in.

“No you’re not! Even _Derek_ said it, yesterday!”

“You know what? _Derek_ already offered me a room at his place. I don’t need more misplaced pity today.”

“Wait, Derek offered you a place to stay? That’s perfect then! No parents or anything, and we do pack business at the loft anyway.”

“Liam. I just told you. I don’t need help. Please drop it.”

“But it’ll be great! You’ll get a bedroom and bathroom and… Wait. How have you been taking showers? … Have you been taking showers?”

“Drop. It”, growled Theo. “Before I kick you out. Can we go patrolling now?”

“Yes, yes, no need to get angry. Just… Keep it in mind?”

“Sure, whatever.”

On those words, Theo started driving away.

* * *

Of course Theo had no intentions to “Keep it in mind”. He was doing great. He’d always have to take care of himself. Nothing new there. Maybe the nightmares had gotten worse since his little trip to Hell, courtesy of the McCall Pack. Maybe he’d had more difficulties getting up in the morning, now that he didn’t have the Dread Doctors to serve or villains to save Liam and the rest of the puppies from. But that’d pass. Things would get back to normal soon enough.

In reality, he was unable to forget the offer.

Derek kept on coming to see him, about once a week. Oh, he didn’t mention the roommate thing even once, only asked questions about chimeras and the Dread Doctors and Theo’s full shift. Still, his mere presence was a reminder that Theo was his latest charity case.

Liam though, he wasn’t even trying to be subtle. Motivated by his new found guilt, he’d started paying more attention to Theo, trying to give him gas money for all the patrolling they’d been doing or inviting him over for a meal and a shower. And that was not counting all the times he’d remind Theo of Derek’s offer and why he should accept it, trying to pawn his responsibility off to someone else.

But the worst of it, as usual, came from Theo’s own mind. When he had to cut a shower short because the lacrosse team was coming in after an extra practice, it would remind him, “You could have your own warm shower”. When he’d have to buy unsold bread for a dollar from the local bakery for the fourth day in a row, “You could get regular groceries”. When he’d end up eating vending machines snacks for dinner, “You could have a real meal”. When the cold would cut through his thin blanket, “You could have a roof over your head. A bed.”. When police officers would wake him up in the night: “You could have a home”. That was probably the worst. The misplaced hope that maybe he could have a home.

With all these thoughts going through his head at any given time, things were not getting back to normal. Quite the opposite actually. And by the time a month had passed, Theo was really starting to look like the homeless teen he was, chimera powers or not. That’s the state Peter found him in when he stumbled upon the truck one evening, while Theo was eating dinner. Well, “stumbled”… From what Theo knew of the ex-villain, he might have planned it, but Theo had no way of knowing. His message though was pretty clear. “You’re paper thin. You’re clearly barely sleeping. Contrary to what you were pretending a month ago, you are not taking care of yourself. At all. My good-hearted nephew is offering you an opportunity to get better. Don’t be stupid enough not to take advantage of it.”

That was the last straw for Theo. Derek’s pity, Liam’s guilt, he could understand and dismiss. But Peter’s brutal honesty was the wake up call he needed. Clearly, things weren’t getting better, and they probably wouldn’t as long as he lived out of his truck. He used to pride himself on being a genius manipulator, but wasn’t even taking advantage of the chance he was offered. Stupid indeed…

And that’s how, after months of living out of his truck, Theo found himself at Derek’s door the next day, ready to take advantage of this new start.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> And don't hesitate to look at the comments, there might be something there ;)


End file.
